


Labels

by zetsubonna



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Come Eating, Dirty Talk, Hand Jobs, Homophobia, Internal Conflict, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Masturbation, Oral Sex, Phone Sex, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-02
Updated: 2017-06-13
Packaged: 2018-01-07 02:29:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 15
Words: 14,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1114424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zetsubonna/pseuds/zetsubonna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Souji keeps kissing Yosuke when they're alone. Yosuke can't decide how to feel about it.</p><p>Yosuke POV, Yosuke feelings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Physics

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a playthrough of "The Golden" after being spoiled to hell & gone. Spoilers up to December, though most of the plot takes place before the Cultural Festival, spoilers for Yosuke's S-Link, random shit missing because I was so focused on this pairing that I neglected other S-Links. (I'm so sorry, Kanji...)
> 
> When Souji _actually starts to talk_ , presume maxed personality bonuses. ^_~

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A flashback to Souji and Yosuke's first kiss. Yosuke still doesn't know why it happened, or how it keeps happening, or why he keeps letting it happen.

It wasn't the first time they'd been alone in Souji's room. The first time, he'd been looking for Souji's porn and hadn't found it. He still hadn't found it, come to think of it, and he was actually really starting to get curious what the guy was in to, since they were-

Boyfriends now, or whatever. An _ersatz_ couple. Yosuke was grateful for the vocabulary word, even if he wasn't sure he was grateful for the situation.

No, it wasn't the first time, that time had been platonic, so had the second and the third. But the fourth or maybe the fifth- Yosuke hadn't thought it important enough to keep count- he'd leaned over right before it was time to say goodnight and go home and kissed Yosuke on the mouth, completely short-circuiting his entire brain.

Not that there were that many circuits to short, Chie would have said.

Souji had tasted like Second Maid and cotton candy flavoured taffy, entirely too sweet, and his mouth was hot and sticky against Yosuke's, and Yosuke was caught off-guard enough that he held still and was rewarded or maybe punished with Souji's tongue.

"Goodnight," he mumbled, and Yosuke couldn't remember if he'd ever seen Souji blush. He'd remember the look on his face forever, obviously- those dark silver eyes half shut, the taffy-and-orange sweetness of his breath, the pink of his cheeks, the way his ears and neck turned red. Maybe it was the lateness of the hour, or the surprise of the kiss, but it was burned upon Yosuke's memory as if with a brand.

"Goodnight, partner," he'd managed back, but that was all. No yelling. No protest. Those all came on the brisk walk home, when the wind was the only thing that kept the night from being stifling.

_Souji kissed me._

_What the Hell, Souji._

_Souji, you know I like girls._

_Souji, you know how I feel about gay stuff._

_Souji, you've seen me act shitty to Kanji for less._

_Why would you kiss me?_

_Why did you kiss me?_

_Did I kiss you back?_

There was a pause of several minutes while Yosuke replayed the scene in his mind, standing stock still, thinking, racking his brain, trying to recall. Second Maid. The crunch-crunch of the sugar crystals in the taffy's chewy center. The smell of artificial cotton candy flavouring. A slick, sweet tongue probing his mouth as though it had every right to be there. His own tongue, Dr. Salt NEO under candied apple taffy with the same crunchy sugar in the middle, pushing back, a strong, slim sword hand on his wrist, holding him gently in place as though he were a horse that might buck and bolt.

_Goodnight._

_Goodnight, partner._

He'd kissed back. _Fuck,_ he'd kissed Souji back. Souji had kissed him, slipped him the tongue even, and he'd kissed Souji back, and it had been sloppy and sweet and kind of amazing, and he wasn't gay, and this was some fucked up shit right here, and he shouldn't have kissed him back. He should have maybe punched him in the stomach, to keep him from ever doing that shit again.

Only when Souji did it again, this time on a dark, deserted street in the shopping district near the shrine after he and Yosuke had spent the afternoon shooting the shit and fishing for goldfish because what the fuck, Inaba, the second time Souji kissed him, Yosuke still didn't react _properly_ , didn't deck him, didn't holler, yell or protest, didn't loudly announce that he was straight as a goddamned ruler thank you very much Seta Souji, no, once again, like an idiot, Yosuke had just shut up and kissed him back, and this time Yosuke's own mouth had tasted like potato sticks and pretzels, and Souji's was lemon Topsicle- salt on sugar was an interesting combination, too.

Yosuke managed to stop grinning when he thought of it twenty minutes later and hit himself in the forehead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Both of those, cotton candy and candied apple, are actual, seasonal (summer) flavors of Hi-Chew. It's a Japanese taffy that's kind of like Starburst, but less sweet and with a firmer texture. God, I miss Japanese candy. Cherry blossom flavored Kit-kat bars? So amazing.


	2. Reverberating Effect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flashback: as a consequence of Souji kissing him: now Yosuke can't stop thinking about Souji, in parts or as a whole.

Yosuke couldn’t stop looking at Souji’s neck. Most of it wasn’t visible anyway; his collar kept it hidden from almost every side that wasn’t dead on, but even so, he found himself staring, like looking could peel down the fabric and leave the fair skin underneath bare.

And there he was, thinking about Souji’s neck in the middle of their class in the middle of the day, surrounded by other people. This was, first of all, ridiculous. It was just a neck. It was, secondly, uncomfortable, and third, kind of gay.

It was only a little gay because he didn’t have any specific plans for it. No real ideas. He wanted to look at it for some reason.

Watch it move when Souji took a deep drink of water. Watch it when he laughed. When he rolled his shoulders and tilted his head back to crack it on both sides before basketball or a Shadow fight.

Something about it being hidden in plain sight made it beautiful and that was infuriating.

He hissed a question, trying in vain to concentrate on whatever they were supposed to be learning. Souji casually murmured an answer. Yosuke was tempted to poke him. In his stupid neck.

 

By lunch, it was on to Souji’s mouth. He couldn’t look at Souji’s mouth in the classroom, but when they were on lunch break he could see it just fine. Souji's mouth had two settings: grim line and soft smile. That was weird. Normal people expressed a range of emotions with their lips and their teeth.

Not Souji. Two settings. Not even a smirk when he was committing TV world mayhem. A soft smile of satisfaction, like he hadn’t been certain his plan would work. Like they didn’t always work.

It wasn’t that Souji’s lips were full, or looked soft, or shone with lipgloss, those were all girl things and Souji fell flat on every front. They were kind of thin, actually, looked like they'd be rough if Yosuke didn't know better, and were matte unless he'd just finished scraping them with his teeth. Also, Souji's lips seemed like they barely moved, probably because he didn’t talk.

And there was another thing. Souji took the strong silent type to an extreme. Sure, Yosuke talked a lot, but all of their friends did. Even Teddie, for all most of what he said was nonsense, couldn’t sustain a silence. Souji was a listener, rarely spoke unless spoken to, and the economy of his words ensured he was listened to. By everyone. Even when he was in smaller groups, everybody seemed just as sure as Yosuke that Souji was a quiet guy and a good listener.

So why was it that when the two of them were alone together, Souji always looked at Yosuke with his mouth slightly open, like he had something to say? He never said whatever it was, and it was driving Yosuke crazy.

 

And then, when Souji kissed him in the dark that night on the riverbank, it almost made sense. The kiss was hot and awkward and sweet and damn, Souji was _brave_.

 

“Was that what you wanted to say?” Yosuke asked after it happened _again_ , gruff as he could manage.

Souji gulped. Yosuke didn’t think the guy even had nerves to get nervous. “Yeah. Is it okay?”

“It’s you,” Yosuke said. He bit his own lip, then clarified. “It’s only okay because it’s you.”

Souji's hands in Yosuke's shirt-front were heavy, his mouth was heavy. Caramel and almonds, a hint of chocolate. How did he eat so much candy and still have all his teeth?

When Yosuke relented and let his arms find their way around Souji's waist, Souji's hands went for his hair, tangled in the mess without pulling, somehow. Tilted Yosuke's head so their mouths fit together better. Not like Yosuke had a ton of practice kissing. He wasn't sure Souji had any.

"Why are we doing this _outside_?" Yosuke asked, trying not to whine.

"Sorry," Souji said. Couldn't have been that sorry, he dove right back into it.

Dragging Yosuke down with him. 


	3. Experiment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Souji has kissed Yosuke a few times, and Yosuke's dismissed it out of hand. When things start to get more intense, though- Yosuke starts to question it.

_It's not gay if it's Souji._

  
That's what Yosuke kept telling himself.

The first kiss wasn't gay. Souji's tongue in his mouth didn't make either of them gay. It was an experiment.

It wasn't until they were making out- in Souji's room, on Souji's couch- and Souji's hand slid up Yosuke's shirt and grazed his nipple that Yosuke sucked in a sharp breath and panted out his first objection.

"No."

"No?" Souji stopped cold, pulling away, pulling back, and Yosuke felt bereft.

"We're not like that," Yosuke mumbled, his face red. "You and me. We like girls."

"You like girls," Souji said quietly. "I know you do."

"So do you," Yosuke insisted. "Chie or Yukiko?"

 _This shit again._ Souji's irritation was palpable, his pale brows furrowed stubbornly over his dark grey eyes. "Yosuke."

"That wasn't an option," Yosuke huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"It's the option I'm picking," Souji said flatly. "I don't like them like that. I like you like that."

"I'm not gay," Yosuke reminded him, his face feeling hot. "I don't like you like that."

"That's all you had to say," Souji said, sliding to the floor, his ears red, eye contact shot to hell. "I won't try it again."

"No, just-" Yosuke didn't like the sick clench that twisted his stomach at the prospect of Souji not kissing him again. He liked it even less than the idea of Souji liking him _like that_ , though it was a slim margin. "Just listen to me. Hear me out."

"You don't like me like that," Souji reminded him, with a chilling lack of bitterness in his voice. "Understood. We don't need to drill it in."

"I like you," Yosuke said, "I'm just not- I'm not queer. I'm not."

"Okay. Fine." But it wasn't fine. The tension in Souji's jaw, the lack of eye contact, still- Yosuke felt the world falling out from under him. "I don't get you."

"You don't get- what's there not to get?" Yosuke slid down to the floor between the couch and the table, trying to get Souji to look at him again. "I'm not like that."

"Why is gay the worst thing you could be?" Souji demanded.

Yosuke growled softly, frustrated. "I don't. Like. Guys."

"Do you like _me_?" Souji asked him, just as aggressive. "Because you were acting like you did, all the times you kissed me back."

"I don't know," Yosuke said, instinctively, before he could say anything else, anything he couldn't take back. He found it rang true, and, thank God, it softened Souji's expression more than a little bit.

"You don't have to decide right away," Souji said quietly, in the same voice he'd used every time Yosuke had heard him assure one of their friends that everyone had dark thoughts. "We can make it up as we go."

"I like girls," Yosuke protested, but the fight was going out of his voice, his shoulders slumping into his usual slouch.

"So do I," Souji finally said, which made him feel a little better. "But not Chie. Not Yukiko, Marie, Yumi or Rise. Girls, generally, not those girls, specifically. And I like you. Not guys, generally- not Kanji, Kou, Daisuke or Teddie. I like Yosuke, specifically. Get it?"

Yosuke's bottom lip came out in a thoughtful pout.

_Girls, generally. Guy, specifically._

"Is there even a word for that?"

"I don't care," Souji said, resolute as ever. Yosuke couldn't help how that stubbornness made him smile, even in spite of himself. "It's me. It's Souji. Is it _you_ , that's what I'm asking. Am I an exception, or do we really need to stop?"

Yosuke looked back into Souji's eyes as they searched his.

"I don't like guys," he said after a long silence, and then, when Souji started to nod and pull away, he reached out and wove his fingers into the hair just behind Souji's ear, letting their foreheads rest together. "I might like you, though. Partner."

"It's a start," Souji muttered.

+++

Souji's cock against his hip was pretty gay.

The kissing wasn't, the kissing was just kissing. They liked each other, okay, that was fine. That was- a _thing_ that had happened. It wasn't as though it was a terrible crisis. Souji knew Yosuke loved him, would die for him if it came down to the wire.

There was still that hesitation, though. The looming spectre of Hanamura Yosuke's impending sexual identity crisis, belied by his reaction to Kanji's.

"Fuck!" he hissed when Souji ground into his hip, twitching back as though the searing heat of Souji's erection was enough to burn him.

"You're kidding me," Souji said from the floor where he ended up, after Yosuke's graceless twitch had dumped him off his own sofa.

"Sorry," Yosuke managed through gritted teeth.

"Maybe we should just be friends," Souji sighed, tucking a pillow under his head and then flopping over on his stomach to bury his face in it.

"I forgot for a second," Yosuke mumbled, his face hot.

"That I have a dick?" Souji's voice was muffled by the pillow.

"Yeah," Yosuke admitted, feeling about six inches tall. Which, if he thought about it- He didn't want to think about it.

There was a pause. The pillow bashed him in the head.

"If I didn't like you so much," Souji said, "I'd start to think Chie's right about you."

"That I'm a hopeless idiot?" Yosuke said glumly.

"Only sometimes," Souji sighed. "Done for today, then?"

"I think so," Yosuke said, cringing into his shoulders. "I kinda ruined it."

"You kinda did," Souji agreed.

It wasn't until Souji's sword-callused hand ruffled through his dyed hair that Yosuke began to unclench from his cringing.

 


	4. Isolating Variables

"I just don't understand why you feel the need to label everything," Souji was saying, not for the first time. Yosuke's head was in his lap, face up thank you very much, and he was petting Yosuke's hair.

"I like labels," Yosuke insisted. "They tell you what things are. They keep shit from being vague. Yes. No. Black. White. Gay. Straight. Stop. Go. They tell you what things mean. How you should react."

"What about shades of grey?" Souji asked, threading his fingers through the coarse brown strands. "Maybe. Bi. Slow down. Why does everything have to be one way or another?"

Yosuke grumbled. "I don't like uncertainty."

"It's a fact of life," Souji disagreed. "Not everything can be carved in stone."

"Are you my boyfriend?" Yosuke asked him.

Souji paused, and Yosuke wasn't sure if he wanted to win this particular victory.

" _Ersatz_ ," he pronounced, and Yosuke rolled his eyes.

"Definition, please, valedictorian."

" _Ersatz_ is the same as _de facto_. I am a guy, we're friends, we make out, you're not making out with anyone _else_ , therefore, I'm probably your boyfriend."

"That's pretty gay," Yosuke grumbled, flushing.

"A guy with a boyfriend is _ersatz_ gay," Souji agreed, sounding insufferably smug.

Yosuke sighed and rolled over to bury his face in Souji's flat stomach, breathing in the smell of him, resenting, a little, how comforting he found it.

"If I'm your boyfriend," Souji murmured, "That makes you my boyfriend."

"Shut up," Yosuke said, unsuccessfully hiding the smile that threatened the corners of his mouth as Souji's hand carded through his hair again.

"You like that," Souji noted. "Think about this, then. If I'm your boyfriend, I'm not anyone else's boyfriend."

Yosuke nuzzled into Souji's stomach. "That's really fucking gay," he sighed.

"We're struggling just getting to dry humping gay," Souji quipped. Yosuke punched him in the kidney- but not too hard. Not hard enough to keep him from laughing.

+++

Kanji figured it out, and, because he was nothing if not classy, did not beat Yosuke's ass over it.

"Senpai, huh?" he said.

"Yeah," Yosuke sighed as Souji scored his third rebound basket of the game.

"So are you two-" Kanji asked, and Yosuke blushed hotly. "Hey, I'm not judging."

"You'd have every right to," Yosuke muttered, rubbing the beet-red back of his neck. "I'm sorry."

"Water, bridge," Kanji shrugged. "Kinda jealous, if I'm honest. He could pretty much have anybody in Inaba, and he goes for you? That's like, Rise-level."

"Heh, kinda," Yosuke considered. "There really isn't anybody who'd say no to him, is there?"

"Maybe Shirogane," Kanji grinned. "But maybe not. You never know."


	5. Hypothesis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yosuke still isn't sure why Souji seems to be interested in him. Souji's got some ideas.

"How are you okay with all of this?" Yosuke asked, lifting up their entwined hands to see where Souji's pale fingers contrasted with his own slightly tanned ones.

"I'm okay with a lot of things," Souji reminded him. "I'm not like most people."

"You're really not," Yosuke agreed, thinking of how easily Izanagi had come to him. "TV stuff, school stuff, even work. You don't seem to struggle like everyone else."

"Have you looked into it?" Souji asked, brushing his thumb across the back of Yosuke's hand.

"Into what?"

"Tarot," Souji murmured. "Since you got Jiraiya. Did you ever stop to think about how your card is influenced by your personality type?"

"I didn't think about it that hard," Yosuke admitted, rolling over to look at Souji's profile. "Gimme a lesson, Sensei."

"The Magician is you," Souji began, a faint smile curving his lips. "Chie's the Chariot. Yukiko's the Priestess. Kanji's the Emperor."

"That much I know, but not really what they mean," Yosuke murmured thoughtfully. "What kind of person is the Magician?"

"Someone who seeks knowledge," Souji glanced at him. "Though not necessarily from books, obviously. Someone who's always trying to see the bigger picture. Someone who likes to see things classified into categories, labeled and boxed off. A person who dislikes the esoteric- the unclear."

"That sounds about right," Yosuke said. "Explains some stuff, I guess. The Chariot- someone who pushes forward, no matter what the obstacle?"

"Exactly. And the Priestess is the opposite of the Magician- someone who hates certainty, who fights predestination. Someone who prefers to live in possibility."

So Yosuke liked his labels, and Yukiko hated hers. That sounded right. _Moving right along._

"The Emperor sounds pretty manly," Yosuke observed.

"You're a lot smarter than people give you credit," Souji told him, squeezing his hand. "Including yourself. The Emperor is the essence of traditional masculinity. That's Kanji."

"So that's everybody else," Yosuke said, changing the subject before he could blush, since blushing would make him feel like a girl. "What are you?"

"The Fool," Souji said, then laughed when Yosuke frowned. "It's not what it sounds like. Not the stupid fool, the fool as in, the court jester. The individual of infinite possibilities. He who can do anything, become anything. The first card in the deck, and the ace of aces at the same time. The wild card."

"No wonder you have so much confidence," Yosuke grumbled. "It's your fate to do whatever the hell you want."

"It's not my fate," Souji corrected, "It's my _nature_. I don't like things to weigh me down or hold me back. I like adventures. I take chances. I believe in miracles, too."

"Miracles, huh? Like?"

"Like two city boys meeting up in a small town and becoming best friends," Souji pointed out, squeezing his hand again.

"...You're _so_ gay," Yosuke groaned. "How did I never notice you were so gay?"

Souji just laughed.


	6. Undesirable Result

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Making out with Souji is only gay from the waist down, Yosuke's decided.

Never _outside_ , Yosuke tried to insist. Never where anyone might _see_. That leaves Souji's room, the one place where they can always be sure they'll be alone and uninterrupted, as Nanako wouldn't come inside big bro's room without knocking even if it were to tell him the house was on fire.

Souji's kisses aren't furtive things, however much Yosuke might wish he'd hurry up. They linger, they're depthy, they take time and patience Yosuke doesn't have, and they make his spine feel like gelatin or flan, just barely stiff enough to hold him up. Unlike certain other parts of his anatomy that turn into a damn kickstand once Souji gets going with that tongue of his that manages to always taste like sugar.

Souji is as much a mystery as ever. He still barely talks. Does he have a type? Yosuke, apparently. Does he care at all how gay that is? No. Does it matter, that's what he keeps asking, as hands rough from katana and basketball skate over Yosuke's hips, which he knows is as low as he's allowed to go. He never protests, never pushes. He's slow, almost indolent about making out, which makes Yosuke feel hot and desperate, but he handles it okay, as long as it never gets any lower. No grinding. Grinding is forbidden. That one time Yosuke knocked him off the couch seems to have imprinted itself as one of their impenetrable, untraceable rules. Souji doesn't grind anymore, though Yosuke isn't blind and can see he has about the same effect on both of them.

Not that Yosuke's not kissing back. He kisses back, or the kissing would stop. That's another of Souji's rules- One Souji made for himself. There's more than a dozen rules Yosuke's made for Souji, but the rules Souji's made for himself are less obtrusive. The second Yosuke doesn't want him, Souji's done. Which is hard, because Yosuke wants him pretty bad sometimes and doesn't know how to say it.

 

The sleepover was an exercise in agony.

Making out usually lasted about ten, maybe fifteen minutes, and then they had to stop, to study or to let Yosuke go wash his face with cold water and come back and complain. Souji didn't mind. He'd pet Yosuke's hair and listen to his endless bitching about everything from how hard he was- he seriously complained about it- to his grades to Junes.

They'd taken up leaning on each other as a hobby, like cats draped over furniture. If the rest of the team noticed, nobody said anything, not even Kanji, who was, Yosuke had to admit, about as decent as a human being could be. Souji liked to lean on Yosuke's chest, Yosuke's arms draped over his shoulders, never wrapped loosely around his neck like they did in private when Yosuke was sitting on the sofa, Souji on the floor. Yosuke liked the smell of Souji's hair. He liked his lap, too, it made a great pillow for all Souji was slim and had skinny thighs that would have been weird on a girl.

The sleepover was agony because Yosuke didn't want to stop. Souji's tongue in his mouth, on his jaw, on his neck, it was slowly ramping up his body temperature to something he was sure was feverish. The lips on his collarbone were enough to get him wanting to take his shirt off, which he'd not been willing to do before. Making out on a scale of what to gay was pretty gay, shirtless makeouts were past that. Grinding was way over in totally fucking queer, which was why it wasn't allowed.

Souji didn't care. He knew the rules, he didn't break them. His tongue was teaching Yosuke lessons in impatience, and since Yosuke was sleeping over there was no logical reason to stop, to run.

Plus it was dark. They'd never made out in the dark before. But when Souji's tongue moved back to Yosuke's mouth after almost wandering all the way down to his nipple- and completely stretching out his shirt in the process- and Yosuke had never thought about the phrase _tongue-fucking_ really, not in any depth, not until he was pretty sure it was what Souji was doing to his mouth, and on a scale of what to gay, he was losing track.

"Stop."

Souji stopped, panting and somehow _fine_ , his expression was heated and hungry but not at all _angry_ , and Yosuke didn't get it. How could Souji take this? This was driving Yosuke crazy and he was the one who made all the _shitty_ rules, rules like ten minutes, rules like nothing below the waist, rules like the ones that kept Souji from grinding on him now and Yosuke was pretty sure they both would like it.

"Too hot," Yosuke said lamely by way of explanation, and that was _fine_ , Souji just nodded and flopped back over on his own futon, not so much as his foot out of place.

"Sorry," Souji said, his voice muffled by his pillow, and Yosuke couldn't imagine getting up off the floor. His knees were as rubbery as his cock was hard.

"I don't mean-" Yosuke began, then dropped his voice to a mumble. "I don't mean you. I mean me. I was getting too- I felt like I was on fire."

Souji hummed softly. For some reason, Yosuke's brain called up the image of a girl with her mouth full of- _bad thoughts, bad thoughts._ Cold showers. Those giant tongued Shadows licking his face. Anything unsexy.

Why would he find Souji's humming sexy? That didn't even make any sense.

"Why do you put up with me?" Yosuke sighed.

"I like you," Souji reminded him.

"Why?" Yosuke grumped, considering rolling over onto his belly just to give himself something to push his cock against. "I must drive you crazy with this shit."

"Only completely," Souji agreed. "But you can't help it. It's how you feel."

"What if I didn't mean it?" Yosuke ventured, after a long silence.

"Then you'd be even more of an ass than usual," Souji teased, no malice in his near-whisper. Then, after a pause in which they both grinned, he pushed himself up on his elbows. "Want me to come back?"

"God, yeah," Yosuke breathed.

This time it was nearly seven minutes before he caught himself arching his hips where Souji's thigh wasn't- but oh how he wanted it to be- and then Yosuke caught himself saying it before he could think.

"Stop."

Souji stopped cold, and leaned over him, searching his expression. "Mean it?"

"No," Yosuke managed, and they dove back into each other, Souji's hands in Yosuke's hair. It was only three minutes before Yosuke hissed "Yes!" and Souji froze, which was not what Yosuke wanted and made him feel very confused.

"What?"

"Yes, I mean it. Oh God, you're gonna make me- in my pants, you know?" Yosuke cringed for a second, then nipped at Souji's mouth. "Maybe I should go to the bathroom."

"You do realize I'd do it for you if you'd let me," Souji muttered, kissing Yosuke's shoulder. "Too much?"

Yosuke let his cock take possession of his mouth, bypassing his incredibly inconvenient brain. "Let's see."

He lasted about ten seconds before he was scooting away, and Souji was blinking at him in surprise. "Too much."

"Too much, or too gay?" Souji asked wryly.

"Too _much_ ," Yosuke panted. "I gotta- I'll be right back."

Souji flopped back onto his own futon with a permissive gesture. Yosuke bolted, cursing himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're interested, the two things I listen to when working on this fic are _Like Sugar_ by Matchbox Twenty, and recordings of rainstorms.
> 
> Listening to recordings of rainy nights while thinking about Inaba is kind of freaky late at night, I don't recommend it. I do recommend the song, though. It makes me think of Yosuke's thoughts about kissing Souji. <3


	7. Variable Y

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yosuke can't sleep. Souji on the brain. He decides to handle the situation.

He was actually surprised he hadn't done it before.

The more he thought about it, the longer it took, so he made a man-level decision that he was not going to think about it at all.

He had less than ten seconds to go on, really, and touches everywhere but there to think about strength and texture. He had the heavy breathing memorized, the soft way Souji would say his name against his ear when the no-grinding rule was getting really difficult to follow, the feel of lips on his ear and the side of his neck were good enough for how Souji's mouth might feel on his shoulder and the way he sucked his collarbone could easily translate to Souji's damned tongue sliding over his hip.

He had it bad, he realized. This was venturing into scary territory. No. No thinking. Thinking not allowed.

He'd never tried doing it with anything in his mouth before, but it seemed to make sense for his mouth to taste like Souji's, like taffy. They still had the cotton candy stuff in the impulse lane at Junes, so he'd bought up an entire box. It was a secret, the way Souji tasted. His secret.

Rise getting all up on Souji was starting to get on Yosuke's nerves. He couldn't decide who to be more jealous of, Souji for being so damned hot or Rise for being able to touch him in public all the time, to slide her arm through his and bat her eyelashes. Yosuke let his mind drift for a second to what it would be like to share Souji with Rise and his hand got a hell of a lot tighter. He pressed his lips together against a moan.

Souji wouldn't be into that, though. Even on the conversation about the beach trip, he'd not cared about the girls in their swimsuits. He'd said Kanji just to make Yosuke jealous, and it had worked. Kanji wasn't even Souji's type. Yosuke was Souji's type. He remembered him saying it, just like that, right up against Yosuke's ear before nipping it and running his hand down Yosuke's stomach and not-quite-low-enough to break any rules. Not like that one time.

Yosuke grumbled and paused for a minute, adjusting his fantasy. Souji, shirtless but not pantsless, because pantsless would be scary. Maybe in his underwear. Yosuke had seen him in his underwear, sure. Not in a sexual context, but gym class, furtively checking out the lines of his chest beyond those constantly popped collars. He dug that, he realized, the popped collars. Souji was a genius, led the class in exam scores, ran the Investigation Team, played basketball, performed with the drama club, worked who knew how many part time jobs and still wore his collars popped up like a bad boy. Maybe to show off that neck that Yosuke wanted to be sucking a hickey into right that minute. He was pretty sure Souji wouldn't even care. Who would notice an extra bruise? Even a mouth-shaped one?

They needed another sleepover. Yosuke needed to change some of the rules. His own hand was almost there, almost good enough, but he had no doubt Souji's would be quicker. Those fingers, so talented with swords, with cards, with cooking knives, with gardening, with taming cats, how his right hand had slid right down the front of Yosuke's pants and underwear and curled so deftly right there and that little squeeze that had been like this and Souji had asked him, "Too hot or too gay?" and Yosuke had said, "Too hot" because-

Because of that. 

"Mm..." He sighed, falling still for a moment, draping his clean arm over his eyes, his stomach a mess.

He cleaned himself up, and then picked up his phone.

"It's late."

"I know."

"Can't sleep?"

"Something like that." A pause. "Souji?"

"Yeah?"

"What are you wearing?"

He laughed. It wasn't a mean laugh, thank goodness, but a surprised one. "My pajamas, obviously." Another pause, and a briefer laugh. "You?"

"Underwear."

Another pause, and the sound of Souji adjusting his posture against his futon. "Mm. Are we doing this?"

"Doing what?" Yosuke yawned. Then he blinked, a flush heating his face. "No."

"Why not?" Souji teased, and then suddenly sounded much more awake. "You just did."

"Maybe," Yosuke felt somewhere between embarrassed and delighted. He squirmed in his futon, shoving his hand under his pillow. "So?"

"You were thinking about me," Souji accused quietly, just barely above a whisper. "That's why you called."

"Who else would I think about?" Yosuke retorted, his face red. "I got an ersatz girlfriend I forgot?"

"That's really-" Souji paused, swallowing so thickly Yosuke heard it. His blush eased a little as he felt himself start to smirk. "That's really hot, Yosuke."

"It was," Yosuke agreed, yawning again. "So're you, partner."

There was silence on both sides. Yosuke couldn't believe what he'd said, and Souji must have been marveling at it a little himself.

"Going to sleep?" Souji asked, finally.

"Maybe," Yosuke said, then bit his lip and closed his eyes, listening hard.

"Don't hang up?" Souji's breath was shaky. Yosuke was suddenly wide awake.

"Listening," he assured him, biting into his smirk as it spread into a grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was recently heartbroken because I didn't get to hug Yosuke on the first playthrough. I wrote this to make it up to myself.


	8. Reformulate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?
> 
> Souji is a dirty, dirty boy. Yosuke just likes to think he is. But with girls! How did he get into this mess?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Keys4Eclipse, PrincetheStripper, Caryatid, and for Fruity, because she came right out and asked. <3

"I was thinking you could pay me back with your body" was not the sort of thing that should become a running joke, but the third time Souji said it- regarding, of course, helping out at Junes _again_ \- Yosuke paused.

"Are you serious?"

Souji considered it for such a long time that Yosuke freaked out and hit him in the face with a balled up paper napkin.

"Not funny."

Souji arched an eyebrow at him. "Why would it be?" he asked, then burst out in a low chuckle when Yosuke gaped at him like an Inaba trout. "Oh man. Your face."

"Shut up!" Yosuke's voice cracked slightly, and he flicked a panicked look at the mop closet's door. "What if someone heard you?"

"What if they did?" Souji returned, the smirk melting into a much softer smile. "You're the worst tease, you know. You got my hopes up the other night."

"I- Listen. That's- I don't want to talk about that. Not here." Yosuke's shoulders hunched up and he rolled his head back, wincing. "Can you please keep the sexual harassment limited to the phone?"

"Like you do with the sex?" Souji muttered, which made Yosuke grimace even harder. He shook his head. "Okay, not at work."

"Thank you. Not at work, not at school, not on the street-" He tried to think if there were any other places he should restrict when he caught Souji looking at him as though in pain. "Listen, okay, there are rules."

"There are so many rules," Souji agreed, smiling and shaking his head again. Yosuke didn't know what that meant, but Teddie came in before he could ask.

+++

Yosuke wondered if he was going crazy. The funny thing was, he realized after making his latest rule, Souji never called him except to talk about the Midnight Channel. He always called first. So he'd called, and Souji was out with Yukiko. Then he was out with Chie. Then he was skipping class to go to Okina with Ebihara Ai, and Yosuke was beginning to wonder if he still counted.

"Hey," Souji said, in a slow, happy, low voice, and Yosuke's back prickled.

"Hey," he said, quicker, feeling breathless. "Where are you?"

"In my room," Souji replied easily, as if he hadn't been busy for almost a straight week since their Junes conversation. As if he weren't the favorite guy of every girl in school. "You home?"

"Yeah." Yosuke rolled his tongue between his lips. "Is Nanako?"

"Of course," Souji said. "Uncle, too. They're downstairs. Are your folks out?"

"Yeah." Yosuke exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Teddie's taking a nap on the sofa, though."

"We never go to your place," Souji observed. "I've never seen your room. Under the futon?"

"Too obvious," Yosuke reminded him, smiling a little. _Guy banter. Safe._ "In with my manga collection, before Teddie. Now I keep it in the top of the closet with my fishing gear."

"I didn't know you liked fishing," Souji said, and Yosuke could hear interest in his voice. "You any good?"

"Average, I guess." Yosuke smiled more, closing his eyes. "Kinda bait you use?"

"Bugs, mostly," Souji said, sounding completely relaxed. "Catch 'em at the shrine. One of the kids there is giving me lessons."

"Not much bug-catching to be done in the city." Yosuke sighed. "You mad?"

"At you?" Souji's voice changed completely. "No. Over the- nah. I knew what I signed up for."

Yosuke chewed his bottom lip. "So you're not-" _ditching me for every girl in Inaba on purpose because I won't mess around with you_ \- "Mad. Cool."

"Is that why you called me every day this week?" Souji asked.

"Did I?" Yosuke searched his memory. "Oh. I guess I did, didn't I?"

"It's usually once or twice," Souji murmured. "I guess I didn't think you were thinking about it so hard."

"I wasn't," Yosuke said, wincing at how defensive he sounded. "Listen, I-"

"Yosuke!"

"Not now, Teddie," Yosuke huffed a sigh and rolled his eyes. "I'm on the phone."

"With Sensei?" Teddie opened the door without knocking and came inside. "I wanna talk, too! Hi, Sensei!"

"Not now," Yosuke repeated, feeling the moment skittering away like Souji's bug bait. "We're having a conversation. Go back downstairs and start dinner."

"Boo, that's not beary nice," Teddie said, pouting when Yosuke was able to hold the phone out of reach. "Bye, Sensei! See you soon!"

"Ugh," Yosuke shut the door behind him and frowned when he heard Souji chuckle.

"Listen." Yosuke could hear Souji moving. "I didn't mean to make you feel awkward. I'm not trying to push you into anything you're not ready for. I just- Mm. I like you."

"I know," Yosuke mumbled back, feeling his cheeks flush.

"Before- and besides- anything else, you're my best friend. We're partners, right?"

"Partners," Yosuke agreed, quieting down, chewing at his lip again. This was getting- _gay, really gay, girly shit here, ugh_ \- he felt like- _a girlfriend, a jealous girlfriend, Souji could have girls who were friends, besides, they weren't serious, it wasn't dishonest, it was just-_ Souji was trying to make him feel better, but it was somehow making things worse at the same time.

"So, we're cool?"

"We're cool," Yosuke lied, frowning up at the ceiling. He didn't like thinking about this shit. It was complicated, which meant he and _Souji_ were complicated, and that was the last thing he wanted them to be. And worst of all, it was his fault they were complicated, because Souji was just-

Souji was being confident about sex, and Yosuke wasn't. Which meant Souji was acting like a man, and Yosuke wasn't. It all stank to hell.

"You suck," Souji said kindly, and Yosuke blinked at the phone.

"What?"

"Don't lie," Souji said. "You're awful at it. Come see me tomorrow after school. We'll figure it out, even if we end up brawling again."

"Thank you, shit," Yosuke sighed. "I'm sorry."

"You can pay me back with your body," Souji replied, and Yosuke flipped a bird at the phone before he hung up.


	9. Adjust the Hypothesis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Souji's girl-pleasing nature nets him a problem. Yosuke handles shit poorly.

"I think I'm quitting the drama club," Souji said, and Yosuke could picture him, leaning back on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. He had listened to Yosuke rant for a solid hour without complaint, but suddenly his voice cut in and the ball Yosuke had been bouncing off the wall fell still when he caught it.

"You love drama," Yosuke said, and then, cautiously, "What happened?"

"I think I messed up," he said. "You know Ogawa? The girl I was supposed to do the play with? She had some problems with her folks. I was just trying to be a friend, but-" He paused and sighed, shaking his head. "She took me wrong."

"Took you wrong how?" Yosuke's hand tightened on the ball, and he knitted his brows.

"She confessed to me. After club, in the room. I bolted. I feel like a complete shithead."

"Why'd you run?" Yosuke said. "Ogawa's cute. Kinda foxy faced, but in a good way."

"I don't like Ogawa," Souji said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You _know_ who I like."

 _Me_ , Yosuke thought, and started bouncing the ball again. His knuckles darkened back to the right color. "Enlighten me."

"Asshole," Souji said, though it was fond. "You, stupid."

"You're the stupid one," he said. "Why would you pick me over a girl?"

Souji was very quiet for a long time. Yosuke thought maybe he had hung up, but there was no dial tone.

"You'd dump me, wouldn't you?" he said, in a wondering voice that sounded like he was smiling. "For a girl. _Any_ girl, whether you liked her or not."

 _Yeah, obviously._ "What do you mean?"

"You'd dump me for any girl. You'd dump me for Chie."

"That sounds mean," Yosuke protested.

"Mean to Chie, I know, but I'm just saying. She makes you nuts, and you'd still dump me if you thought she'd give you a chance."

Yosuke could hear an edge of pain in Souji's voice. His mouth went dry. "You're serious about this," he said, feeling stupider than ever. "You like me."

"I keep saying it," Souji reminded him. "But it doesn't matter, if you don't like me back. Goodnight."

The phone clicked to a tone, and Yosuke stared at it in mute horror. He dialed the number again, but Souji didn't answer. He sighed into the voicemail and hung up.

The text came a minute later. _Don't bother. I don't want to hear it. I deserve it anyway._

"Because you turned down Ogawa?" Yosuke muttered aloud, "Or because you were crazy enough to think-"

_To think I might like you back, when aside from having a dick you're basically perfect. You even look good in a dress._

His heart went into his mouth and his stomach turned.

 _I didn't believe you,_ he texted back.

 _You're an idiot,_ came the response. _Don't text me back. I'm going to bed._

Yosuke spent a long time staring into his phone.


	10. Calibrate the Equipment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yosuke gets to experience a reversed Social Link. And then, he fixes it. <3

The rest of the group didn't even realize anything was wrong. Souji kept a tight lip as always, letting everyone else talk while he listened, and only spoke up when they needed him to, which had the added bonus of making Yosuke's stomach hurt. He went along with the facade that everything was normal, even asking Souji for answers in class as usual, surprised when he still _got_ them.

Ogawa waited for Souji in the hall. Yosuke waited for Souji in the classroom. He smiled when Souji passed by him, invited him to fight again- and got a grim little forced smile that wrinkled Souji's forehead. The dude wouldn't even _slug him in the face_ , he just bore it out. Yosuke'd never stopped to think before, how a person might go on after having a confession rejected.

Souji went to basketball and his part-time job at the day care center. Souji went to Aiya with Chie. Then basketball again. Then the floodplain with Yukiko. He walked Naoto home. He went to Okina with Ebihara. He spent a lot of time with Kanji. Yosuke didn't dare call him on the phone.

Once, watching Souji with Nanako while he was working at Junes, he came over to say hi, and was surprised at how light the atmosphere was. He didn't know how he managed to smile at her, her hand tucked into Souji's, the other carrying their shopping basket. He didn't deserve to talk to her, after he'd dumped her big bro. That was when it hit him. It was an inconvenient moment to realize he was an utter shithead, standing in the produce section with Nanako and Souji on one side and Teddie on the other.

And yet Souji wasn't really any different. He was almost treating Yosuke the same, except they were never alone together anymore. There were no long, late night chats on the phone full of swearing and flirting, no rainy afternoons making out on Souji's couch.

Yosuke thought he might have been losing his mind. Finally, he texted him.

_I'm sorry._

_For what?_

Yosuke didn't know what to say. The next text came unbidden, two minutes later, curt and gut-wrenching.

_If you don't know what for, don't bother._

It took Yosuke half an hour to calm down enough to put together his response. He didn't like it, even then, it came off to him as whiny and desperate. _Are we still friends? Or are you faking it so no one will worry about us?_

The phone rang.

"Souji?"

"You are so damned _dense_ ," Souji sighed. "Ugh. Of course we're still friends. Stop pushing me. I'm not mad, damn it, my feelings are hurt, it's different."

"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings," Yosuke tried. "I just didn't think-"

"You don't think much, do you?" Souji snapped, and there was quiet between them. It was an awful silence, and Souji swallowed thickly. "Fuck, that was mean. I'm sorry."

"No, I um. I deserved that, probably," Yosuke said. "I didn't think. I thought you were just, you know. Being a guy."

"Guys have feelings, too, Yosuke," Souji reminded him with a sigh.

"I didn't think about that. I just thought-" He sighed back. "I have this set image in my head, okay? What gay shit is. It's not us. It's that creepy shit with Kanji's shadow, that's how I see it. It's sweaty gym clothes and stinky shoes and sexual stuff I wouldn't even do with a girl-"

"You wouldn't let a girl touch you?" Souji challenged him immediately. "You wouldn't let a girl kiss you?"

"That's not what I meant," Yosuke protested.

"Why do you have to label it, anyway? Why does everything have to fit into a box with you? It's not some generic 'gay shit,' it's _us_ , _kissing_. I thought you liked kissing me." Souji didn't sound angry. He sounded hurt and tired, but not angry. It made Yosuke feel- _sad, hopeless, useless, broken, wrong, empty, lonely, awful_ \- uncomfortable. "But you don't. You think it's gross. So why are we even talking about it anymore?"

"It's not gross," Yosuke mumbled. "I'd just rather-"

"I'd rather you were a girl, too," Souji said. "But you're not, no matter how cute you looked in the drag show."

"I didn't look cute!" Yosuke protested hotly, blushing, but Souji kept talking.

"I didn't fall for a girl. I fell for Yosuke. It was stupid, but I thought kissing my best friend sounded pretty good. I don't know what I'd do with you if it went past that, so I decided to try it and see. I thought- it made me feel _brave_. And you, too. I know how you feel about guys together, but you were giving it a shot, for me. That was brave. It didn't work out. Okay. But wouldn't you rather know that than wonder about it forever? Think about how I'd have felt if I never kissed you at all."

Yosuke was very quiet. "Dude," he said finally. "Are you crying?"

"Yeah," Souji said. "Yeah, I am. So?"

"Nothing," Yosuke said, smiling faintly. "You know..."

"What?"

"I think this is the most I've ever heard you talk."

Souji laughed. "Asshole."

"I'm serious. If you hadn't quit drama, I'd have come to see your play, you know. Just to hear your voice. It's really nice."

"Thanks," Souji said, and then there was a sniff, which made Yosuke close his eyes.

"I'm sorry I was a jerk and disrespected your feelings," Yosuke said slowly. "I didn't take you seriously, and that was uncool."

"I don't talk much," Souji mumbled, sounding embarrassed. "I'm a man of action."

"You totally are," Yosuke agreed. He waited a moment, then ventured, shyly, "Can I come over some time?"

"Sure." Souji said. "I missed you."

"I mean for makeouts," Yosuke clarified, blushing.

"Only if you want," Souji sighed. "You still owe me for three shifts at Junes."

"I can pay you back with my body," Yosuke said, rolling his eyes.


	11. Second Trial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Souji decides to try something he hasn't before. Yosuke's up for it! More than up for it, honestly. Yosuke's delighted.

It wasn't so bad, Yosuke reflected as Souji was kissing his earlobe, having a boyfriend. He could imagine a generic but nonspecific girl doing what Souji was doing, but nobody specific. He could also, he knew, think about Souji doing this and it would have about the same effect.

There were lots of boxes. _Maybe_. _Bi_. _Slow_ _down_.

Souji's hand ran down Yosuke's chest and over his stomach, then flirted with the button of his pants. Yosuke hissed.

"Yes or no?" Souji murmured, nipping his earlobe.

"Yes," Yosuke managed, and then, when Souji's hot hand gripped him through his pants and his hips arched, " _Yes, yes, yes-_ "

"Shh," Souji warned, his touch lightening immediately, "If you make too much noise-"

"Nanako-chan," he breathed, rolling his hips into Souji's touch. "Teddie. I know. Holy _shit_ , that feels nice."

"More like you and me," Souji murmured, his hand moving steadily up and down, "Shirtless."

Yosuke curled his hands into fists under the pillow, biting his own bottom lip while Souji's hot mouth traveled down to his shoulder and then, flirtatiously, threateningly close to his nipple. "Just- _uhn_ \- don't stop, don't stop, okay? Don't-"

"Hush," Souji warned him again, this time with a laugh and a squeeze that made Yosuke's face turn red. "Damn."

"What?"

"Weird angle," Souji said, furrowing his brow thoughtfully. He rolled over on his hip and pressed his entire body against Yosuke's side while adjusting his grip. "There, that feels more- natural, right?"

"I honestly-" Yosuke panted, "Could not give a shit. Just don't stop, okay? Oh my G-" He pulled his hand out from under the pillow and crammed his knuckles into his mouth to smother a moan.

"Sensitive." Souji's breath was hot on his ear. He kissed his jaw. "Hot."

"Ngh," Yosuke answered around his knuckles, pulling his other hand out from under the pillow to pull Souji's up to his waistband and giving him a wild-eyed, prompting look.

"Okay." Souji's breath was warm and damp enough to make Yosuke's toes curl as his deft fingers flicked open the button and pulled down the zipper, sliding into Yosuke's boxer shorts at the waistband and fondling him again, this time more lightly.

"Nnnn," Yosuke protested, his eyes rolling as he unclenched his teeth from his hand. " _Harder._ "

Souji rested his head on Yosuke's shoulder, tightening his grip, his thumb doing something with his foreskin and the head of his cock Yosuke had previously thought he'd invented. "You look like I'm killing you," Souji murmured.

"You are, damn, you are," Yosuke panted.

"What would you even do if I tried it with my mouth?" Souji purred.

"Die," Yosuke nuzzled at his temple. "I'd just lay here and die. You wouldn't."

"I haven't decided yet," Souji confessed, grinding his own erection against Yosuke's hip and kissing his jaw. "I might."

Yosuke's hips jerked and he grabbed Souji by the hair to pull him into a vicious, teeth-clicking kiss. "Do it," he begged. "Do it if you're gonna, it'll take- oh, _shit_ \- nn, less than five minutes."

"Five minutes is a long time," Souji demurred, but his eyes were dancing. "You'll owe me."

"I'll do it back," Yosuke swore, "Just- damn- _please_ -"

It only took another ten seconds of pumping and squirming before Souji's tongue was on his cock and Yosuke was muffling the most creative cursing of his life with both hands over his mouth.

"Salty," he complained, and Yosuke whined. "Okay, okay, fine. You _owe_ me."

Yosuke nodded, and closed his rolling eyes as his cock began to slip into Souji's hot, wet mouth.

"Yosuke! Sensei!"

Souji sat bolt upright and Yosuke gritted his teeth.

"What?!" he snarled with unusual vehemence that made Souji bite both of his lips together against a laugh.

"Dinner's ready! Come on down! It looks beary delicious!"

"I am going to _turn him inside out_ ," Yosuke growled, staring wildly at Souji.

"We'll be down in a little while," Souji called back calmly, pressing a long, slow kiss to Yosuke's trembling stomach. "Give us about ten minutes, okay? You two wash up and make sure everything's perfect."

"Okay, big bro!" Nanako chirped.

"Best boyfriend ever," Yosuke whispered.

"You owe me so bad," Souji informed him, taking him back in hand and starting to suck him again, humming an echo of the phrase with his mouth full and nearly making Yosuke come right away.

"Humming is good," Yosuke managed. "Very, very good."

"Mhm?" Souji asked.

"Oh _shit_ yes," Yosuke whispered. "Come on, less than- less than two, oh my God I swear-"


	12. Variable S

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yosuke's never been accused of being the smart one. His taste in _boyfriends,_ though. Apparently? Impeccable.

"Am I completely inconsiderate?" Yosuke asked.

He was, as usual before and after a makeout session, sprawled on the floor with his head on Souji's lap and Souji's hand carding through his dyed hair. There was some noise on the television that neither of them were paying any attention to, and Teddy and Nanako were entertaining each other downstairs again, which was convenient.

"Socially? Conversationally? In class?" Souji prompted, gazing down at him with a smart-ass glint in his eye that made Yosuke's heart beat a little faster.

" _Sexually_ ," Yosuke clarified, though it made his face go pink to even say it. "Am I _sexually_ inconsiderate?"

"No more than everything else." Souji seemed confused by the question. "Did I do something?"

"No," Yosuke sighed, squirming, adjusting his shoulders. "But that's the thing. I _never_ do. I don't do anything for you. I mean, I'm complicit- I kiss you back, I take things off when you tell me, I don't pull away when you touch me anymore, but- I don't know. It seems like you do everything and I just kinda lay there and enjoy it."

Souji snorted with laughter, and Yosuke, still blushing, scowled and hit him in the hip. "I'm bein' serious, dude!"

"That's why," Souji chuckled. "Mm. Accurate."

"What can I do?" Yosuke asked him, rubbing his cheek on Souji's stomach. "You have to want stuff. You never ask for anything. You don't have to be so self-sacrificing, partner. I'm into it, I think. I'm definitely into you. So we can try stuff. What do you want?"

"I don't need anything," Souji said, low and sweet, his dark gray eyes meeting Yosuke's before trailing down to the hollow of his throat, maybe his collarbone. Half the reason Yosuke wore v-necks all the time now was because Souji had muttered something once about liking that spot, right in the middle, wanting to lick it. He'd worn them before, but there hadn't been a reason for it. He just had a lot of them. Now it was a conscious choice.

"I like touching you," Souji continued, tracing the waistband of Yosuke's pants. "That's enough."

"Come  _on_ ," Yosuke complained, wrapping his arms around Souji's waist and burrowing into his stomach. "Don't. Don't be like that, don't be perfect. Come on down here in the gutter with me. Want things. Ask. I'm not saying I will, but I'll think about it, at least."

"Don't want anything," Souji reiterated, letting his hand slide up the back of Yosuke's shirt, caressing his spine, the planes of his back. "Just want you."

"I want everything," Yosuke mumbled, nuzzling, trying to find Souji's navel with the tip of his nose. "I want your hands on me. I want your mouth on me. I want you to jerk me off and suck me and kiss me until I go blind and pass out."

Souji's low, rumbling chuckle made Yosuke's stomach burn.

"You gotta want something. You get hard when you touch me, I see it. I don't feel it, 'cause you won't even put your dick on me after that first time, but I know you do."

"I didn't mean to," Souji murmured, caressing the skin, fanning out his fingers. "Did I apologize? I meant to, but I was still hurting, so."

"You don't have to apologize," Yosuke scowled, biting, and Souji sucked in his breath sharply. "I get you hard. I like that. I  _like_ that I get you hard. I want to get you  _off_."

"I like this spot." Souji's fingers found the divot at the top of the crack of Yosuke's ass and stole his breath. "It's soft. Furry. Kind of nice."

"D'you wanna fuck me?" Yosuke's voice was muffled by Souji's skin, and his face felt so hot he could have been smothering. "Is that what you're trying to say? You want to fuck me, Souji?"

"What?" Souji snatched his hand back so fast he jammed his elbow into the couch and swore. "Shit! Ow! No!"

"I didn't say I'd let you," Yosuke squirmed so he could fall back across Souji's lap and stare up at him. They were blushing at each other now, Yosuke's just in his cheeks and Souji's largely in the tops of his ears and, Yosuke imagined, the back of his neck. "I'm just asking if you want to."

"No," Souji insisted. "Never even thought about it. I- You wouldn't like that."

"I wouldn't?" Yosuke peered up at him. "How do we know I wouldn't?"

"It's- no. No, I don't want that," Souji squared his shoulders and drew deep, steadying breaths. "I don't want to fuck you. God, no. That's- _no_."

"You don't have to be so aggressive," Yosuke grumbled, folding his arms. He felt insulted, and he wasn't sure why, especially because he felt relieved at the same time. "Just 'no' is enough. And why not, anyway? You like my body. You think I'm sexy. Why wouldn't you want to fuck me? That doesn't even make sense."

"Shit," Souji rubbed his face with both hands, embarrassed in a way Yosuke couldn't remember seeing him. "Stop  _saying_ it like that."

Yosuke shifted himself around, taking in Souji's erection with the corner of his eye, then looking up at his face. "I'm going to jerk you off."

He hadn't, yet, for all Souji's teasing that Yosuke would owe him anything, Souji never even made mention of actually collecting. Souji jerked Yosuke off. Souji sucked Yosuke off. Souji would get down on his knees by his own couch, suck Yosuke's dick, and then exit to the bathroom and jerk off by himself. He'd come back with clean hands, a softening cock and toothpaste on his breath. It was- well, it hadn't happened enough yet to be _usual_ , but if it had, it would be.

"What?" Souji squirmed and stared at him, eyes wide and unfocused, mouth hanging open. "You-"

Yosuke was already getting up. _Before I can change my mind_ , he told himself, straddling one of Souji's lean thighs and grabbing him with both fists in his shirt, kissing him, rough, trying to prove that if they used enough spit and enough tongue, they could wipe away the blushes from both of their faces, if they made it sufficiently filthy. He squirmed until Souji's cock was pressed against his knee, their tongues entwined, still wrinkling his shirt and plunging his tongue past those sweet-sticky, dry lips.

Souji made a low, loud sound against Yosuke's mouth as his hips jerked, but Yosuke played it off, undeterred. His fingers were shaking when he pushed them into Yosuke's hair, and the noise came back, louder, when Yosuke figured out how to get Souji to rock his hips into his thigh.

"There you go, partner," Yosuke purred, "That feels good, right? I get you hot. It isn't just you doing it for me."

"Damn it," Souji panted back, "This isn't- I don't-  _Yosuke_ -"

"Damn, that sounded good," Yosuke blinked, tilting his head to the side, and watched Souji's mouth as he dropped his shirt with his right hand, palming his cock, squeezing it through his jeans.

" **Uhn** ," Souji grunted, and Yosuke went completely still.

"Souji?" he murmured, very softly, stopping. "Are you always loud?"

"I'm not-" Souji whined when Yosuke pumped a long, deliberate stroke up and down his shaft through his jeans. "I didn't- say- anything-"

"You made a noise," Yosuke pointed out, starting to stroke him again. "Not words, just a noise. A loud noise."

"Uhn," Souji answered, then again, steadily, "Uhn, uhn, uhn-"

It wasn't  _un,_   _yeah_ , it wasn't anything coherent, it was just this steady, sexy, speaking-volume sound that reminded Yosuke of girls in porn when they were taking it really hard. It made his stomach tumble. It reverberated in his spine and made his balls ache. Souji didn't  _do_ this when they were jerking off together on the phone. He'd have noticed. He'd remember.

Also,  _briefs._ Who wore briefs anymore? They were city boys, boxers were the default. What the hell? But they looked good on him, the elastic sat snug against the skin, the tip of his cock poking out like it was looking for Yosuke's hand, damn well  _asking_ to be petted, even if Souji's stubborn mouth refused to speak for it.

Even if he wouldn't ask, wouldn't talk, Souji kept making sounds. Yosuke tugged his cock free, one handed the other fisted in the back of Souji's hair to keep his mouth turned up and his protests silent, overcome by the grunting, kissing and heavy breathing. It felt good in Yosuke's hand, not too different from his own- thicker but a little shorter- and yeah, weird angle, but it was smooth and silky and kind of nice, and the steely gray hair around the base made Yosuke's teeth click together. Silver, silver everywhere, why the Hell was that so hot?

"You're kind of sexy, aren't you, partner?" Yosuke breathed against Souji's open mouth. He could see his tongue. It was wet and pink, just barely restrained by where the tip was caught behind Souji's bottom lip. His thumb worked back Souji's foreskin, making the grunt louder again, and then he was making it in time with the way Yosuke was pumping his cock, his eyes clenched shut. "Damn, you _are_. Huh. I hadn't noticed."

The verbalizations shivered for a moment, and Yosuke wondered if Souji was making them on purpose, and then he let Souji's precome slide all across his palm and they skewed lower and louder for a moment before resuming steadiness with Yosuke's pumping of his shaft.

"You want to come in my hand or in my mouth?" he murmured, watching Souji's open, trembling lips. "Souji? Partner? I'm gonna make you come, right?"

Souji growled, burying his face in Yosuke's chest and thumping his fist into his hip. "Sh'tup. Doncare.  _Uhn_.  _Uhn_ _. Uhn_."

"Maybe I wanna fuck you," Yosuke mused, nuzzling Souji's hair. "Might be nice. Your ass is kinda-"

Souji thumped him again, harder, muffling a louder moan in Yosuke's shoulder by biting down on his shirt. Why hadn't he thought of that before? Him fucking Souji, not the other way around. Souji was the leader, probably, that was why. He was taller, handsomer, girls loved him. But Yosuke was the one with all the hang ups, and Souji was the one who wanted him enough to fool around with him anyway. Souji would let Yosuke fuck him, if it came to that. Souji seemed to have already figured that out, too. He was always the smarter one.

"On your back," Yosuke speculated, twisting his hand so Souji shook so hard his hands came loose and his neck went limp again, head falling on the edge of the couch. "So I can see your face. So you make all that noise in my ear. Those damn long, pale legs wrapped around my hips. Dick on my stomach. Don't sound bad, really. Not at all."

"Sh'up sh'up  _sh'up_ ," Souji hissed. He was clearly mortified, his face was redder than Yosuke had ever seen it, his clothes were all rucked up and wrinkled, he was glassy-eyed and his lip was swollen from where he'd been chewing it. "M'soclose, gon'come- _uhnuhnuhnuhn-_ "

"If your ass is anything like as hot and slick as your mouth," Yosuke speculated, and Souji bit him, then, caught skin between the cotton and bit down hard, coming all over his hand, and he came a  _lot_. Yosuke never would have guessed that much. He winced, because the bite was definitely going to leave a bruise, but it was worth it, probably.

"Damn," Souji whined, and Yosuke felt invincible. Filthy, sticky, hot, sweaty and invincible. Souji's voice actually cracked. He'd done that. _Yosuke_ had done that. "Damn it, Yosuke, that was dirty. You're a pervert."

"Yeah, well," Yosuke slid down from his knees and offered his hand to Souji's lips, smirking but not saying a word when he closed his eyes and, without any other prompting, began to lick it clean. "You're my boyfriend. What's that say about you?"

Souji glowered at him, but he wasn't blushing anymore, and his tongue swiped his come from Yosuke's fingers like he'd done it to his own hand before. Yosuke just bet he had. He swallowed Yosuke's eagerly enough, why not his, too? Yeah, that was _extremely_ gay. Whatever, it was also really goddamn sexy. He drew in a deep, steadying breath.

"Kiss me."

"What? Now?" Souji gaped at him, ducking his chin, squirming. "But my mouth tastes like-"

"Like you," Yosuke said, deep and forceful. "I know. Kiss me."

Souji kissed him.  _Come and sugar and heat and sex and Souji_. Yosuke thought, maybe, he could learn to live with it.


	13. Reanalyze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, Souji is noisy.
> 
> That's- frankly, that's somewhere between _exciting_ and _entertaining_. But they've been making out for months now and Yosuke is just now figuring it out? That's-
> 
> Inexcusable, really. What kind of shitty boyfriend is he, anyway? Or is he the girl, here? Because, damn it, guys are supposed to be aggressive, and Souji's been doing everything, Yosuke's just been- selfish. Really selfish. That's not cool. It isn't!
> 
> So what the Hell is he going to do about it?

"Hm?"

"Uhn!"

"Mhm. Hm?"

"Uhn- uh-uh."

"Hm."

Souji didn't seem to know what he was doing anymore, and that, to Yosuke's mind, was both a shame and a success. He'd always seemed so smooth before, his steady, calloused hands finding places Yosuke didn't know he liked touched, making him shiver, working his cock and carding through his hair and making him feel steady, then warm, then hot, taking it all the way to sticky and then backing off.

Then there had been that afternoon Yosuke had jerked him off, and now that they were working themselves toward equal footing, it wasn't the same. They were having to learn everything over from scratch, because Souji couldn't properly concentrate on petting Yosuke when Yosuke was petting him back.

The first thing they'd had to change was their arrangements. Nanako and Teddy downstairs weren't an option, not if Yosuke was going to touch Souji, because that grunting thing? Completely out of his control, and _really fucking loud_.

"We don't have to worry about me," Souji tried to insist, dragging Yosuke back toward him, and Yosuke had put a hand over his face and pushed, laughing.

"Would you quit it?" he argued, shaking with the force of his laughter. "Look, partner, we're even or I'm not in. If I can't touch you, you can't touch me. End of discussion."

"I don't care if I get off or not." Souji grabbed at him, but Yosuke squirmed away. "Look, I want-"

"No," Yosuke countered. "No way. You're supposed to be tutoring me in chem, not biology."

"Just give me a couple more minutes," Souji complained. "Let me suck you off, kiss me again, I'm good with just that, honest."

"I'm not taking a blowjob from a guy who can't get a handjob without waking up the graveyard," Yosuke retorted. "You don't get my dick if I don't get yours. Fair is fair."

"You're the worst boyfriend ever." Souji was persistent, and Yosuke laughed when he tried to nuzzle into the side of his neck again, huffing when that earned him an elbow in the stomach. "You know I can jerk you off in five or suck you off in three, and we've got like, ninety before dinner. That's plenty of time to study. I don't see why we have to stop now."

"Because you'll be sitting there, all smug, with come on your breath and a hard-on I can't fix, and I'll be too foggy-headed to understand anything you say," Yosuke said, rolling his eyes and smacking the back of Souji's hand when it tried to sneak up the inside of his thigh. "Stop it. Damn, you know, I didn't notice you were so horny all the time."

"We haven't gotten past kissing in _two weeks_ ," Souji growled. "What am I supposed to jerk off to? Porn?"

Yosuke laughed again and swiped at him with a pillow. "Okay, that is both adorable and pathetic. Hm. I'll try to get us the house to ourselves, and I'll call you tonight and talk you through it, but we're not doing anything else today. Now walk me through this hydrogen shit again."

 +++

"You're mean to me." Yosuke could hear Souji squirming around on his futon.

"Because I won't let you blow me," Yosuke closed his eyes, his fingers trailing up and down his stomach. "I'm the worst, how dare I?"

"You used to let me suck you off whenever I wanted." Souji was clearly pouting, and  _nobody else ever got to hear him like this_.

Yosuke shifted his hips. "I did. That was actually worse, if you think about it. You're my boyfriend, you're not a fleshlight."

"Your fleshlight is getting more action than me at this point," Souji shot back, then paused. "Do you actually-"

" _No_ ," Yosuke said. He didn't laugh. He wanted to, but he didn't. Souji was clearly getting desperate. "Anyway, tell me what you want to do to me."

"I want to suck your dick," Souji said, low and forceful, and Yosuke's whole body tingled. "I want to make you come."

"Hm," Yosuke said, thoughtfully. "We know how that goes. That's a good plan. What do you want me to do to you?"

"I just want you to let me!" Souji said. "Why do I have to want anything else?"

"Because we're  _partners_ ," Yosuke told him. "If you wanted somebody who'd let you do _whatever_ and get away with _whatever_ , you could have anybody. You don't want that. You want _me_. Right?"

Souji exhaled, long and slow, and Yosuke smirked. "Yes."

"Do you think you could teach me?" he asked, the smirk widening into a grin when Souji's breath caught. "I'm pretty good with Topsicles, and you teach me everything else. I could learn, right?"

"You don't want to suck me off."

"Who says I don't?" Yosuke drummed his fingers against his stomach. "You smell all right, your dick's not bad looking. It's a little thicker than mine, but it's not impossibly big or anything."

The breathing on the other end stopped, and Yosuke's grin got sharp. "You don't."

"I might," Yosuke hummed, thoughtful. "Maybe. I mean, you probably don't taste as good as I do, since you eat  _literally everything,_ but I don't have to swallow. You could come on my hand again, you liked that okay."

"Yosuke." Souji sounded like he was being strangled.

"Or you could jerk off on my stomach, you like my stomach." Yosuke was trying very hard not to laugh. "It's flat, and smooth. You said that. You were rubbing it, I think. With your face."

" _Yosuke_." His voice was shaky. That was good. When it got higher, Yosuke would be in the sweet spot.

"We could jerk each other off," Yosuke offered. "At the same time. Rub them together. Like grinding, but, I don't know. Naked. Totally naked. Not even, like, pants around our ankles, actually stark naked, nipples and balls and everything."

Soft. Uncertain. " _Uhn_."

"There you go." Yosuke let his approval show in his voice. " _Finally_. I've only been needling you for half an hour."

"S-shut up," Souji hissed.

"No. I said I'd talk you through it, and I will." Yosuke licked his lips. "What if I laid on my stomach and let you jerk off on my back? Like, grinding on my ass and jerking off on my back. You'd like that. That'd be hot for you."

"Why are you _doing_ this?"

"Because you need me to," Yosuke told him. "I'm such an idiot. This is why you want _me_. Everybody takes from you, you give and you never ask for anything. Money, sure, you take your wages, but you'd do it all for free and just live on the money from the TV if you had to. You take care of things." He lowered his voice, licked his lips. He was pretty sure he knew what Souji wanted. Probably. "I'm your partner. _I_ can take care of _you_."

Souji whined. _Perfect._ It was like solving a puzzle he'd been working on for months. He didn't want to be _sensei_ , not in bed, not  _senpai_  or  _leader_ or anything of the sort. He didn't want to fuck Yosuke, he probably didn't even, really, want Yosuke to fuck him, he'd just liked the dirty talk and the concern for his pleasure, the empathy. If he really wanted to pin Yosuke to the floor and suck him off earlier, he totally could have, he wasn't even trying to insist, not really. Yosuke had said no, and Souji had sulked, but he'd stopped.

"You want that, don't you, Souji?" he sighed, running his hand through his hair. "You want somebody else to drive sometimes. That's what this is about, isn't it?"

" _Yosuke_."

It sounded good. It sounded really good, if he was honest, and it _felt_ even better. Nobody thought much of Yosuke, everybody thought he was a pushover and a flake. Not Souji. Souji knew Yosuke was _like him_ \- he just really wanted to help everybody and to have everybody want him around. He needed that, to be useful, to be helpful, to be kind. The alternative, they both knew, the part they couldn't handle was the  _being alone_. That would be intolerable.

"I don't need you," Yosuke murmured. "But I do want you. I want you, Souji. I want you to want me. I want you to make me come, yeah, but I want to get you back. Mm. Maybe we could learn-"

Souji sucked in a sharp breath, and Yosuke swore he could hear the slap of flesh on flesh. He had to be working himself pretty hard. It was making his own leak against his stomach.

"I mean, that's a thing, right? Sixty-nining? We could do that, couldn't we? Partner?" He sounded shy, and his face was burning, but his heart felt fierce and the heat was triumphant.

" _UhnfuckYosuke-_ " _  
_

"That'd be hot, right? You like my mouth, and yours feels really- mm. Really damn good. I love the way you suck me. I want to make you feel like that, too. You going to teach me?"

Soft, soft, soft. Choking, drowning, gasping little sounds, rhythmic, steady. Wet. That sexy, thick, heavy tongue, the heat of his face buried in Yosuke's neck, those impossibly strong, steady hands working his shaft, toying with his balls. Yosuke finally dropped his hand, touched himself, and moaned quietly. Souji sucked in a sharp breath and got just a little bit louder.

"Let's do it together, partner," Yosuke murmured, his eyes closed. "That's what we want, right? Mm. You n' me. Us."

Choking, more choking, he'd never imagined a guy's voice could sound so erotic. Souji was just made of surprises. " _Coming_ ," he gasped, wheezing. " _Coming, Yosuke, coming right now, so damn hard, oh fuck-_ " _  
_

Yosuke croaked a similar noise in his direction, though Souji did finish first and Yosuke went dead silent to make sure Souji didn't realize how far he'd lingered behind, and they stayed like that for a while, then they were just breathing, slow and deep.

"Worst boyfriend ever, huh?" Yosuke teased, rubbing his come into his stomach. It was sticky, but he liked it. It made sure Souji would be the first thing he'd think of when he woke up.

"Mmph. Maybe not that bad," Souji acknowledged. "Third worst, maybe. Better than a few."

"Yours, though. Lucky bastard."

"I am," Souji sighed, and Yosuke's heart tripped over several beats to hear him say it. "I really am."


	14. Third Trial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, one of them has to be emotionally mature and today it's going to have to be Yosuke's turn, because Souji is a mess.

Yosuke was leaning way back on the futon in a pool of sunshine, his head tipped back in Souji's pillow with Souji's hand up his shirt and Souji's mouth on his neck, and his thigh was pressed against Souji's hard on through both of their pants. Souji's hips would rock against his thigh occasionally and Yosuke couldn't help the grin on his face. He had his hand down the back of Souji's pants- not too low, just in the warm spot at the base of his spine, so Yosuke could dig his nails in a little bit and Souji would make low, hungry sounds into the side of his neck.

"That feels, mm, really good, partner," Yosuke said, and Souji kissed the spot he'd just had his teeth sunk into.

Souji considered this for a moment, moved his mouth to Yosuke's and started pulling at Yosuke's shirt from the bottom, trying to get it off. Yosuke's hand being down his pants was making this harder than it needed to be, so Yosuke reluctantly pulled his hand out and surrendered his shirt.

Souji pinned him back down so hard his head bumped against the floor, even with the pillow.

"Easy, dude," Yosuke said, squirming to try and get comfortable again. It was hard, because Souji's mouth was on the joint between his neck and his shoulder like a lamprey. Yosuke was pretty sure this was going to be his first hickey. Winter would be the time for that, sure, a scarf wouldn't get him too much of a stare, but still.

He let it go until Souji broke off on his own and started kissing along his jaw. His breathing was rough and ragged, but even that and the grinding didn't have him making those aching little noises Yosuke liked so much. He was too quiet. Something was definitely up.

"Hey, chill a sec," Yosuke said, putting his hand in the middle of Souji's chest and pushing, gentle but firm.

Souji frowned but put his weight back on his knees.

Yosuke drew in a deep breath. This was going to be awkward as Hell, but he couldn't just pretend he didn't notice.

He cupped his hand around the back of Souji's neck and brought him in until their foreheads touched. Souji's mouth went softer and the furrow went out of his eyebrows.

"Sorry," Souji mumbled.

"Somethin' on your mind?" Yosuke asked. When he didn't get an immediate answer, he pushed on. "I mean, this is still definitely the best Valentine's Day I've ever had, but, y'know, you're not usually the biting and hickies type."

Souji shrugged and buried his face in Yosuke's neck. He was still, just heavy, and he wrapped his arms around Yosuke's torso and hung on, silent.

Yosuke rubbed the back of Souji's neck and his hair and tried to puzzle his way through this. He hadn't said anything, he was sure. He hadn't done anything, either, Souji was being too affectionate for that. Then it clicked.

"It's halfway through February."

Souji huffed softly in the affirmative.

Yosuke wrapped his arms around him and let him drop the weight from his knees so Souji could press all the way down on top of him. "You don't wanna go."

Souji's hiccup was quiet. The tears were a little harder to ignore, though, given how quickly they were starting to run down Yosuke's neck and wet the pillowcase. The squeezing would have been nice under better circumstances. It was hard not to appreciate Souji's arms. The muscles were definitely impressive.

Still, more pressing issues at hand. Yosuke attempted to shift thinking from his dick to his brain. He let Souji cry it out for a while, rubbing his back and his neck. It didn't feel as awkward as he'd thought. It felt pretty good, actually, in a melancholy sort of way. Souji would miss him. Yosuke didn't think anybody would have missed him before, not specifically.

Also, if he was going to be any kind of decent boyfriend, he needed to think of something to say that would make Souji feel better. Words were his department, apparently. Souji needed to hear _something_. He'd have to improvise. Yosuke waited until the sobbing got quieter again, just low hiccups and muted sniffling.

"Look, partner, it's gonna be fine. We've got a year to figure out how to get back in the same place, whether it's Inaba or somewhere else. Worse comes to worst, we've got phones. Texting. Video chat. Long weekends. Vacations. I'm not anyone else's boyfriend, right?"

Souji laughed softly, his nose pushing into the hollow behind Yosuke's ear.

"I was wrong, by the way," Souji said. " _Ersatz_ and _de facto_ basically mean the opposite of each other."

"Yeah?" Yosuke kept stroking his back and petting his hair, one hand in each place. The heaviness of him wasn't a bad thing. For one, he was warm.

"Yeah. _Ersatz_ means fake. An inferior substitute," Souji kissed the side of Yosuke's neck. It was a soft kiss, brushing, warm and kind of dry. Definitely more like him. " _De facto_ is by the fact itself. In effect, whether intended or not."

"So, we were ersatz boyfriends, and now we're de facto boyfriends," Yosuke said, scratching lightly at Souji's scalp.

"Something like that," Souji said, sighing against his skin. "My birthday's next week."

"You want some cookies?" Yosuke asked. "I can make like, three things. Cookies, omelets, and fried rice. You can't complain when you get the same cookies for White Day, though."

"Sounds good," Souji said, and Yosuke was pretty sure the lick was catching more of Souji's own tears than the taste of Yosuke's skin. "Sorry I got so aggro."

"Hey, no problem," Yosuke said, giving Souji a squeeze of his own. "I know you kind of suck at the whole talking thing."

Souji snickered, prying himself up to kiss Yosuke on the lips.

"Mm, okay," Yosuke said, settling his shoulders into the futon and grinning when Souji did. "Now, how about you take your shirt off? I don't mind sticking my hands in your pants, but I'm really into the idea of half-naked hugs suddenly."

Souji sat back and peeled out of his shirt. His eyes were still a little pink and damp, but his abs could make up for a lot. Yosuke ran both hands over them appreciatively.

"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. C'mon back down here, partner."

Souji laughed, squirming so they both ended up grinding into each other's thighs. "Why is it so hot that you call me that when you're about to put your tongue in my mouth?"

"Hey, how would I know?" Yosuke said, wrapping his arms around Souji and kneading at his back. "You're the one who decided you wanted me."

"You're irresistable," Souji said, kissing him with an exaggerated smack of his lips.

"That's gay," Yosuke deadpanned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Souji gave Yosuke chocolates for Valentine's Day, which is usually a girlfriend thing to do. Cookies for White Day are reciprocal, boyfriend to girlfriend. Souji's still pretty sure he's more comfortable with himself than Yosuke is, so he decided to play the girlfriend part. Yosuke appreciated that. First time he's gotten handmade chocolates, let alone little fudge musical notes wrapped in red foil.


	15. Results

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yosuke comes to visit Souji in the city. As usual, Souji's parents aren't home. Silliness ensues.

Souji came out of the shower in a cloud of steam. Yosuke couldn't help the way his eyes went to him, though blessedly his instinct took them to Souji's neck and the water droplets that were rolling down from it to his clavicle. Souji's wet hair was pushed back, his eyes mostly closed, and his skin pink from hairline to the towel at his hips as if he'd boiled himself in the hot water. The whole image went into a memory box of things Yosuke would deny jerking off to on pain of death. That did not keep him from looking.

Souji yawned and hip checked Yosuke to get him to share the sink so he could brush his teeth. Souji's bathroom in Souji's parents' apartment was big enough for both of them at once, but not big enough to share without them bumping into each other. Yosuke leaned over to spit while Souji was briskly scrubbing at his molars and blinked when the towel slid down another inch.

"Dude," Yosuke said, gesturing to it with an open hand.

Souji squinted at him, mouth full of bubbles.

"You're like, one more slip from naked."

Souji spat into the sink, then gestured to himself from top to toes. "My house. Besides. There's nothing here you haven't seen before."

Yosuke sighed. Souji fixed him with a pointed stare and intentionally dropped his towel. Yosuke opened his mouth to protest, but found himself giggling hysterically instead.

 _Maybe_.

"I have nothing to be ashamed of," Souji said, tilting his head back. He smiled, too, soft and almost hinting teeth. "My boyfriend thinks I'm hot."

"Your boyfriend is a closet case," Yosuke said, shaking his head, still laughing. "Put some shorts on."

"No," Souji said, going back to brushing his teeth. "Enjoy the view while you're here. It isn't nurses, but it'll get you there."

Yosuke groaned. "I should have guessed you'd be like this once I got here."

Souji switched sides with his toothbrush, making eye contact with Yosuke in the mirror and looking practically sunny.

"The basketball team never had to put up with this," Yosuke said. "You shared showers with them for a whole season without incident."

"Kou wasn't my partner," Souji said around another mouthful of bubbles. "Never flirted with him naked."

"Never flirted with him, period," Yosuke retorted. "You're too shy to say anything risky outside of the team, and even with our friends your deadpan pick-up lines are so ridiculous everyone thinks you're kidding. Hell, even _I_ think you're kidding."

Souji clutched at his chest. "Maybe I will put my pants on."

"Just some underwear," Yosuke said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand before going to rinse it and his toothbrush.

Souji tilted his head questioningly.

"It's all about context. I'm weirded out by your freshly washed junk flying free for no reason. Doesn't mean I can't aesthetically appreciate everything else."

Yosuke liked it when he could explain how his thoughts were organized to Souji. _Context_ was really useful in dividing things into their categories. Souji liked _context_. He was teaching Yosuke _nuance_ , which was also a good vocabulary word.

Souji paused to beam at Yosuke around his toothbrush. _Context_ and _aesthetically_ in the same conversation, used correctly. Major boyfriend points for listening and actually internalizing the tutoring Souji was still making the time to do for him long distance. Pretty soon Yosuke might not even need to be graded on a curve anymore.

Yosuke kissed Souji's shoulder. "Don't tell anybody, partner."


End file.
